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Monday, 19 December 2016

I am popping in for a quick post just to wish you all a merry Christmas and happy new year!

My next post will now be on the Friday 6th January as it is now the school holidays and there are so many other things going on.

Thank you to everyone who has visited my blog in the past year and especially the lovely comments, they have been much appreciated!

This year has been a fab crafting one for me as I have taken the plunge to apply for design teams and been so lucky and proud to have been accepted onto some great teams that I am really loving :)

Next year I plan to continue my crafty journey and to celebrate having my blog for a year and almost reaching 50 followers I will be having a giveaway during January (hopefully it will also help beat those post Christmas blues!) so do keep a look out!

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy celebrating the start of 2017,

Friday, 16 December 2016

I am really proud today to have one of my projects over at 'A Vintage Journey' challenge blog, as I was chosen as one of their pinworthy projects a couple of months ago!
The theme at the moment is 'Winter Magic' and the blog challenge focuses on shabby chic; mixed media and vintage type projects so my one is very mixed media and a bit shabby chic. Click HERE to go on over to the blog.

When I heard the theme of winter magic it immediately made me think of ice and snow as I think these are truly magical parts of nature. I already had an IndigoBlu mannequin that I had previously decorated but wasn't happy with so I took it apart and started again!!

Here is my finished project...

I started by preparing the mannequin body and base with white gesso then painting with Imagination crafts silver starlight paint. Then I applied some paverpol wrappers with Powertex fabric hardener to create the layers of the dress. I wanted to give a dripping ice feel to the bottom so layered the wrappers to create that effect. At this stage I also added in some Powertex art balls to create extra texture...

This was left to dry thoroughly for a few days and then I added some crackle paste with a pallet knife. Once this had dried I used a selection of starlight paints to create different icy colours. Silver Pebeo gilding wax was blended over the top to bring out the texture and some sprinklings of cosmic shimmer iced snow glitter which adds a sparkle that is easier to see in 'real life'...

Then I die cut snowflakes using a spellbinders pendant die and snowflake dies by Sue Wilson and layered them up in matching card colours, finishing off with some creative expressions sparklers...

Finally I added sections of some pearl strings from Anna Marie designs as a finishing touch...

I absolutely loved making this project as I felt I could add as much sparkle and texture as I wanted and hopefully it has captured the theme of winter magic!

Thank you for reading and do please pop over to the vintage journey blog to see what else has been made.

Tuesday, 13 December 2016

I am back today with a mixed media piece that I made a while ago but have not shown as it was an article in the Mixed Up Media online magazine last month. If you love mixed media this magazine is a new online publication with a wide variety of projects and tutorials, many interactive, if you are interested in finding out more you can click on the link at the top left hand side of this blog.

As the new issue has now been released I think it is ok for me to show you what I made!

I really enjoyed using my decoart paints on this as well as lots of other mediums, I even used some stamps that I carved myself after seeing how easy and fun it was in Kate Crane's 'Journal Soup' (an online class that is available from her ETSY store, click HERE to go straight there).

I decided to decorate a wooden icon from IndigoBlu as it gives you so many surfaces to play with. Here is the view when it is opened up...

There is mixture of stencilling and stamping in the background as well as marks made with bottle tops etc.
When closed here is the front and the back...

There is also some gelatos and liquid pearls added for extra colour and texture.

Finally a couple of close up photos...

I love Dina and Dyan's stamps from Ranger, and they seemed to go together well.

There is more info about this project plus some photos of how to carve a stamp in the article that is in issue 2 of the Mixed Up magazine if you are interested to read a bit more.

I will be back on Friday with a special mixed media project that tries to capture some winter magic!!

Sunday, 4 December 2016

Today I thought I would show you my remaining design team samples from this weekends Hunkydory shows. These were all created using the 'For the Love of Stamps' set Delightful Dahlias, which is a lovely classic set ideal for so many occasions. As there are also coordinating stencils for the sets in this release I wanted to show a range of ways to use the stamps and stencils, both in the end products as well as the mediums and techniques...﻿

This was one of my favourite samples as I wanted to try a bit of mixed media and create a vintage/shabby chic look. The stencil was used on the MDF with light modelling paste, then once it was dry and been painted I added crackle glaze and antiquing cream. I used the leaf stamps with flitterglu and gilding flakes and brought out the texture of the flowers with gilding wax. I stamped the main outline image onto patterned paper with gold embossing powder and cut out the various layers to create a decoupaged flower.

I wanted a much cleaner look for this card so used only the stamps. The outline stamps were used with Versafine then embossed with clear powder. The images were coloured using Spectrum Noir Illustrator pens.﻿

I always try to create a range of projects that are not just cards as I think that stamps are so versatile and can be used in so many ways, so my next project was to use the stamps to create the pattern on a handbag gift bag. The bag was made using the Crafter's Companion Big Score board and project DVD and I used A3 centura pearl cardstock, but stamped on the reverse side (not the shiny side). I used the bolder flower image this time with distress inks and then also used the ink through the stencil to fill in the blank areas. The main flower on the flap was created by stamping the bold images with distress ink then over stamping with the outline image in a darker colour.﻿

This final project was created using silver card for the box and the instructions from a youtube tutorial which I have previously linked up HERE. The decorated panels were made using both the bold and outline stamps again, but this time the outline was stamped with versamark then embossed with silver powder.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the projects and hopefully had a chance to catch some of the show on Create and Craft. The live shows have now finished for the weekend but I am sure they will be available for a while on the catch up facility.

Saturday, 3 December 2016

I am really excited today as on Create and Craft Hunkydory are launching their next set of stamps from the 'For the Love of Stamps' range, and I have to say that the two stamp sets I had to work with this time I absolutely loved! What made it even better was when we were told each set also had a coordinating stencil, which for me was the icing on the cake!!

Today I thought that I would show you the samples that I made using the 'Out of This World' set. This is a really gorgeous set that has so many elements to create fantastic space scenes or more simple cards...

I couldn't resist starting with a pop up box card, especially with the rockets which are brilliant for attaching to acetate strips for flying! The background to the flaps was created using sparkle pens and also used the stars from the stencil with sparkle medium.﻿

As soon as I had the stencil I knew that I wanted some form of home décor with a mixed media feel, and thought that a space themed door hanger would be great for a child's room. The stencil was used with modelling paste for the background before being painted over with Starlight paints and a touch of gilding wax. Then the elements were added after being coloured and coated with glossy accents.﻿

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As there was this fantastic moon sentiment in the set I really wanted to create a circle easel card. The background was again created using the stencil, but this time with distress inks.﻿

Finally I wanted to create a more simple card to show how a couple of the elements could still create a really effective card.

Here are the details for when the show starts, but do please check the Create and Craft schedules for all the shows throughout the weekend as they are sometimes subject to change.

I will be back tomorrow with the samples that I made using the Delightful Dahlias set, some different types of projects were created with this beautiful flower set, so please do come by for a look.

Friday, 2 December 2016

It is the first Friday in the month so it must be time for a new challenge over at Creative Artiste!

To find out who the winners were last month and to see all the inspiration projects from the team please click HERE.

This month the sponsor for the challenge is

Here is the project that I made, with a distinctly winter feel...

I started with a blank MDF door hanger that I primed with white gesso then added snowflakes through an Imagination crafts stencil with light paste from Finnabair. I also added some Golden glass bead gel for extra texture...

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Then Starlight paints were added for some frosty sparkle...

Using the same stencil I added more snowflakes this time with the Imagination sparkle paste...

Finally I die cut snowflakes using dies from Spellbinders and Sue Wilson and added them to the door hanger along with a sentiment from Creative Expressions.

It would be great if you take a look at the challenge and even better if you are inspired to enter a project!

I will be back tomorrow with some design team samples for the launch of Hunkydory's 'For The Love of Stamps' latest range, you can take a look over on Create and Craft...www.createandcraft.tv

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Freeview 23

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I hope you have a great end to the week and are looking forward to the weekend.

Thursday, 1 December 2016

Well it is December! Time for the advent calendar and Christmas music to start...
It is also the start of a brand new months challenge at Altered Eclectics, please click HERE to go straight over to the challenge blog where you will see inspiration from the whole team. The theme is always 'Anything Goes' but NO cards or ATC's.

As it is that festive time of year I decided to create something to reflect the season and one of the things that I love is snowflakes, especially the patterns and the icy colours. So I made an altered MDF wreath trying to create that feel...

I started with a blank MDF wreath which I primed with Decoart white gesso then added some texture using light paste from Finnabair through an Imagination crafts snowflake stencil, and then for that extra frostiness added some touches of Golden glass bead gel...

The wreath was then painted using blue and pearl starlight paints from Imagination crafts...

I wanted to create a really icy look to the wreath so used the Decoart crackle glaze in places and once this had dried added white Decoart antiquing cream which was then wiped back leaving some areas whiter, especially within the crackles. At this point I felt that something was still missing so added some more shimmer using Imagination sparkle paste through the same snowflake stencil as before. Some gilding wax was also added to highlight the texture...

To finish I wanted even more layers and dimension with some more snowflakes, so used a spellbinders snowflake pendant die and some Sue Wilson snowflake dies to create layered embellishments from different pieces of card. These were sprayed with some pearl diamond spray then finished with a gem each and a touch of silver Pebeo gilding wax in places...

The sentiment is from Creative Expressions (heat embossed with silver detail powder) and was die cut then coloured with a brush of distress ink...

Finally some white satin ribbon was added to hang the wreath from and I adapted an embellishment to add to the centre of a bow...

I hope you enjoyed seeing how this was made as much as I enjoyed creating it. I really liked the different layers and texture, and I was happy that I achieved the frosty look I was going for.

Please do pop over to the Altered Eclectics challenge to see what the design team have made and hopefully you will also be inspired to enter a project!

I hope you have a fab start to the month and please pop by again tomorrow when I will have another project to share for another new challenge!

Wednesday, 30 November 2016

I have recently been very lucky to have been given some brand new stamps to try out some projects with :)
The stamps are from LC Designs (Little Claire) who are a lovely company making clear stamps plus a range of card/paper accessories. I have, over the years, bought stamps from the company when I have seen them at various craft shows so I was really excited to have a play with these!

This new stamp set has an outline hedgehog that can have words added to it, plus there are some other elements on the set as well.

Here are a couple of cards that I made using the set...

For this card I cut out the stamped leaves and coloured them before coating in glossy accents. The hedgehog image was stamped then the word added and for this card I decided to add my own prickles! ﻿

On this card I decided to use the tree trunk element from the stamp set along with the hedgehog, this time the word become the prickles! I wanted a printed look so coloured the image using Spectrum Noir Illustrator alcohol pens.

Monday, 28 November 2016

I have been very lax with my posts again and also realised that I hadn't shared some samples that I made for the Hunkydory Twilight Collection launch a couple of weeks ago. So I thought I would share my creations with you today, especially as the stamps sold out so quickly when the shows were aired so I don't think the design team samples got much chance to be seen!

This collection is based around fantasy and fairy tales and the kit itself had lots of black silhouette images against quite dramatic colours, so with my samples I tried to show how the stamps could create some different looks...

Saturday, 19 November 2016

Today I have some of the samples that I created for the Weekend Wow over on HOCHANDA at the moment. The beautiful and intricate dies are fab for a range of projects and I decided to use two of them to decorate different styles of boxes...

This first box was created using a tutorial on You Tube by Lea Denton who is a Stampin'Up! demonstrator, here is the link to the video...

I used 12 x 12 coredinations card for the main part of the box and cut the Fancy Shutter die out of coredinations green card backed onto stick it. Once cut this was then mounted onto gold foil card and the box all put together. Finally I stamped and embossed the sentiment which was from one of the Sentimentals sets by Crafter's Companion and some luxury ribbon was added as per the tutorial.

My second box was a simpler and flatter box that I made using the box base and lid measurements on my Big Score board. I used the Butterfly Swirls die and cut it twice to create an oval shape. By cutting the die a couple more times I was also able to snip away some of the whole butterflies to layer up onto the main die cut. Gilding wax was added to highlight the texture and organza ribbon and a sentiment added as the finishing touches.

To see the dies in action and lots more samples from the whole design team you can tune in as follows...

Hopefully I will keep my posts more up to date now and hope to see you soon,

Friday, 18 November 2016

I hope you had a chance to catch some of Leonie's shows yesterday, I really enjoyed seeing the demos and also the samples, including some by the new design team members!

Today I thought I would show a couple of new cards that I made using the entwined heart dies in combination with some of the floral stamps that were also on the shows...

This card was created using the Big Heart (Floral Cascade) along with the butterfly from the Folk Heart base. I kept the inside of the heart that had been die cut and coloured it using gilding wax to create a contrast when the elements were put back together. The Beautiful Blooms stamps were used in the background as well as then stamped, cut out and shaped for the focal elements. Finally the sentiment came from the message ribbons stamps.

For this card I wanted to use a different colour scheme from purple or pink so went for blues. The background was created using the Dizzy Daisy stamp set and coloured using Spectrum Illustrator pens, with Broken China distress ink blended around the edges. I also watered down some gold paint to flick onto the background for extra detail. The Folk hearts were used to create a solid and detailed heart in coordinating colours and finally some of the message ribbon stamps used again for that finishing touch of a sentiment.

Starting today on HOCHANDA is also the Weekend Wow from Crafter's Companion for which I have also made some design team samples!! There are lovely dies that are great for creating really elegant cards, boxes and lots more and I will put some of my projects on here tomorrow as well.

I hope you have a good end to your week and are looking forward to the weekend, hopefully I will see you back again soon,

Thursday, 17 November 2016

Firstly I must apologise for my lack of posts, I have been very busy though crafting for the design teams ad also preparing for a couple of Christmas craft fairs so my blog went a bit by the wayside :(

However I am back today to show you some of the new samples that I made for Leonie Pujol's One Day Special that started last night and continues today at 9am, 12pm, 4pm and 7pm. It is some of the previously released stamps and dies but at fantastic prices!!
Here are a couple of the samples that I made with a selection of the Mixed Media stamps and dies...

I really love the flower dies as I am always putting die cut flowers on projects but these are that bit different having a more funky and fantasy feel! I decided to really go full on for this card and wanted it to be bright and sparkly. The background was created by stamping the flowers and then heat embossing with clear powder. Then I added Leonie's sparkle pens, blending them together at the joins before adding some of the text stamps in black to really stand out. The die cut flowers were also coloured using the sparkle pens before being stacked up then a sentiment added.

For this card I wanted to create something a bit different so only used the lips from the die set. Each set of lips was coloured using Spectrum Illustrator pens then coated with glossy accents. The background was created using Aqua Markers on the mixed media texture stamps and then finally one of the word ribbons was used around the edge.

These were great fun to make and I will be back tomorrow with a couple of the new samples I made using the entwined heart dies.

A quick reminder that when I reach 50 followers I will be having a giveaway of some crafty goodies, including some of the dies that are on the shows today, so if you are not already a follower I would be really pleased if you would click on the button over on the left hand side :) Here is the prize I will be giving away from a special post...

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